Boro Wood Products Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 28, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 886 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BORO WOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC.,' EMPLOYER
and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-737.-Decided February 28,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Morgan C.
Stanford, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
.2., The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer and the Petitioner agree that a unit of production
and maintenance employees is appropriate. The Employer, however,
would exclude, and the Petitioner would include, certain janitors,
storeroom employees, firemen-watchmen, and truck drivers.
The janitors: Two employees, Peterkin and Bethea, perform janito-
rial duties. They work the same hours and punch the same time clock
as the production and maintenance employees, and, like them, are
hourly paid. They spend about 2 hours a day cleaning the Employer's
offices, and the remaining 6 hours cleaning the plant. As these two
individuals are clearly maintenance employees, we shall include them
in the unit.2
The storeroom employees: These four employees unload, count,
and store plywood, masonite, and other materials used in the Employ-
er's manufacturing process. They work the same hours, punch the
same time clock, and use the same washroom as the production and
The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
s Boaz Mills, Inc., 78 NLRB 1086.
88 NLRB No. 160.
886
BORO WOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC. 887
maintenance employees. Their foreman also supervises four other
employees who cut masonite, and who are included in the unit by
agreement of the parties. From these facts, it appears that the work
and interests of the storeroom employees are closely allied with those
of the production employees. Accordingly, they will be included in
the unit .$
The firemen-watchmen: There are four employees in this category;
one works on the day shift, when the plant is in operation, and the
other three at night, when the plant is closed. They are not uniformed
or deputized. All four are authorized to carry arms, but only the
three on duty at night generally do S0.4 The fireman-watchman on
duty during the day shift spends about 75 percent of his time in the
boiler room, and the remainder of his time checking the premises.
The firemen-watchmen on duty at other hours spend about two-thirds
of their time in the boiler room, and the remainder making hourly
tours of the premises, in the course of which they punch a time clock
at various stations. As less than half the working time of all four of
these employees is spent as watchmen, we shall, in accordance with
our established rule, include them in the production and maintenance
Unit .5
The truck drivers: There are seven over-the-road truck drivers who
transport the Employer's products to points as distant from the plant
as New York City, St. Louis, Missouri, and Miami, Florida. These
drivers are paid by the mile and by the trip, and are guaranteed a
minimum wage. They have no regular duties at the plant, although
they occasionally help load their trucks. In addition to driving and
maintaining their trucks, these employees at times collect money from
customers, and negotiate with them when necessary as to storage places
for deliveries. The supervisor of the transportation department is
located in the Employer's offices, and it is there that the drivers report
for work. As the truck drivers appear to constitute a distinct and
separate group of employees whose interests and conditions of employ-
ment differ from those of the production and maintenance employees,
we shall, in accordance with the Employer's request, exclude them from
the unit.,,
We find that all the production and maintenance employees of the
Employer at its Bennettsville, South Carolina, plant, including the
janitors, storeroom employees, and firemen-watchmen, but excluding
3 Sampsel Time Control, Inc., 80 NLRB 1250.
4It appears that in South Carolina an Employer may carry arms to protect his business
property , or delegate any employee to do so for him.
5 Indiana Desk Company , Inc., 82 NLRB 103 ;.Shelbyville Desk Co., Inc., 82 NLRB 1230.
6 W. C. Nabors Company, 79 NLRB 40; Concrete Pipe t Products Company, Inc., 74
NLRB 905.
888 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
office and clerical employees, over-the-road truck drivers, and all
supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard,
and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed
during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during
said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily
laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who
are not entitled to reinstatement, tg determine whether or not they
desire to be represented, for purposes of. collective bargaining, by
United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, A. F. L.
MEMBER STYLES took no part in the consideration of the above Deci-
sion and Direction of Election.
MEMBER REYNOLDS, dissenting in part :
Although otherwise in accord with the present decision, I do not
agree with the majority's determination to exclude truck drivers from
a production and maintenance unit. It is my understanding that
where, as here, the Petitioner desires to represent truck drivers and
no other labor organization seeks to represent them in a separate unit,
it is the usual Board practice to include in an over-all unit employees
such as truck drivers, notwithstanding the fact that, under other cir-
cumstances, the nature of their duties might warrant their exclusion
from the over-all unit or a finding that they could by themselves
constitute an appropriate bargaining unit .7
7 See Glazer Steel Corporation, Si NLRB 530 ; Bigg8 Antique Company, 85 NLRB 554.